Guest Columnists

Practical Insights on the Weekly Torah Portion from Rabbi Joshua B. Gordon.

When you choose to believe despite the viable, easy, and rational justifications, then you’re a true believer.

The journey of actualization is to break free of limitations.

The women in Abraham’s family were abducted (or nearly abducted) no less than four times . . .

No circumstance in life is so low and so depraved that no good can be gathered from it.

On rare days, we coast along at the top of our game. On the bad days, we tumble out of control into a valley of problems and issues. Most days, we sit in traffic and question if we are moving at all...

It's said that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. This is especially true if the old dog's routines were successful. Why should he learn a new trick?

On closer inspection, it seems more akin to ecology than to ethical monotheism... yet this one elegant idea developed by a child some 3,800 years ago, has transformed the world forever

Each Jew must look at him- or herself and ask the question, “Who am I? What do I believe?” For we are not intended to be robots; we must do, but we also must know and understand . . .

He doesn't understand; there's pain and hurt. And appreciation for all the symbolism, tradition and meaning are still many years away...

I just received our monthly credit card bill. On it was a month's worth of food shopping, as well as my utilities and phone bills. There were no luxuries; everything was a bare necessity. I gasped when I saw the total. How are we going to make it?

Abraham’s mission was to explore the final frontier. Only there would he find his innermost identity. (parsha perks with Dr. Chighel | Lech Lecha)

Why should a person get up and leave – even if he is promised blessing and success – if there is seemingly no rhyme or reason for doing so? Nullifying the “why” is the challenge here, the true test of the trial of lech lecha.

Why would we want to be shielded from Abraham? He was one of the all-time greats!